Broadcast, TV, Game Time

This was a hot seat game last year. Now it’s really one of those games that neither coach can afford to lose.

Arizona State had enough problems getting past New Mexico State to start the seasons and then it hit a wall in a 30-20 home loss to San Diego State. With Oregon, at Stanford, Washington, at Utah and USC up next, lose in Lubbock, and it’s going to take something amazing to avoid a losing season.

Texas Tech came out roaring with a 56-10 win over Eastern Washington, and then it got a week off to prepare for an interesting run with a trip to Houston up next and Oklahoma State to follow.

Can this be a wild and crazy shootout? Can the offenses get everything rolling like they’re supposed to? Will the losing coach be allowed to get on the bus?

One Reason Why Texas Tech Will Win

Arizona State’s defense still hasn’t shown up. It couldn’t hold down San Diego State’s running game, it couldn’t deal with New Mexico State’s passing game, and now it has to face the Texas Tech fun show.

A disaster last season, it hasn’t been any better this season, especially on third downs allowing teams to convert 55% of their chances.

The offensive line can’t stop anyone from getting to the quarterback – allowing 12 sacks so far – the punting game is awful, the kick coverage team stinks, and the run defense got motored over by San Diego State.

But besides that, everything is fine for ASU.

One Reason Why Arizona State Will Win

Okay, so what’s going right for the Sun Devils?

As bad as so many parts of the puzzle are, the pass rush has been excellent. It cranked up four sacks and ten tackles for loss against San Diego State, helping to hold the Aztecs to just 73 passing yards.

Getting to the Texas Tech quarterback is always a problem – the offense gets the ball to the playmakers in a hurry – but Nic Shimonek will have to make ultra-quick decisions in his second start of the year. The speed of the game is about to ramp up.

What’s Going To Happen

It was only one week against Eastern Washington, but the Texas Tech passing game clicked with three quarterbacks combining to go 31-of-35 passes for 449 yards and four scores. Shimonek will go off, and while ASU will come up with a few scores to keep up for a while, Texas Tech will look terrific.

QB Manny Wilkins did a nice job under constant pressure, throwing for 298 yards and two scores, but he needs time to operate. If the offensive line can give him anything, he should hit 300 yards without a problem.